Canadian Identity and Ethnic Subcultures - Pearson Canada

CHAPTER 15
Canadian Identity and Ethnic Subcultures
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found to “highly value a good warranty and the ability to return a product,” as a
manifestation of a cultural sensitivity to the lack of trust in the conduct of business
in their countries of origin. 62 Due to the forces of integration, English works well
with first-generation Canadians. 63
ETHNICITY IS A MOVING TARGET
Although ethnic marketing is in vogue in many firms, the process of actually defining
and targeting members of a distinct ethnic group is not always so easy. In the
last decade there has been a continuing decline in the proportion of Canadians of
British and French origin because of increasing immigration of other Europeans,
Asians, and other non-Europeans, stemming from various economic and political
events throughout the world. In addition, ethnic intermarriage has blurred ethnic
boundaries, particularly, but not solely, among first- and second-generation
Canadians. Almost 13 million Canadians reported multiple ethnic origins in the
2006 census. 64 Thus, it has become increasingly difficult for marketing researchers
and Statistics Canada to classify Canadians into neat ethnic categories, and comparisons
across time must be done with special attention to how ethnicity is operationalized
for data collection. 65
The steady increase in the number of mixed marriages is, however, creating
opportunities for some marketers who wish to meet the needs of children raised in
multicultural families. Because many children are exposed to others from diverse
cultural backgrounds, some marketing executives feel that their attitudes will be
quite different from those of their parents. Encounters with diverse cultural traditions
create the need for products and services that allow consumers to celebrate
multiple heritages, including international festivals, language classes, camps with
ethnic themes, and travel products and services. Also, celebrations of the arrival, settlement,
trials, and successes of the first immigrants to Canada create marketing
opportunities as their descendants participate in events that identify the roots of
their heritage.
Ethnic Stereotypes
A controversial TV commercial for Salesgenie.com that ran during Super Bowl XLII
in 2008 illustrates how marketers (intentionally or not) use ethnic and racial stereotypes
to craft promotional communications. The spot featured two animated pandas
who spoke in heavy Chinese accents. After complaints from viewers, the
company withdrew the commercial. 66 Many ethnic subcultures have powerful
stereotypes the general public may associate with them. In these cases, outsiders
assume that the members of a group possess these traits. The same trait, unfortunately,
can be cast as either positive or negative by a communicator, depending on
the communicator’s intentions and biases. For example, the Scottish stereotype in
Canada is largely positive, so we tend to look favourably on their (supposed) frugality.
3M uses Scottish imagery to denote value (e.g. Scotch tape). However, the Scottish
“personality” might carry quite different connotations to the British or the
Irish. One person’s “thrifty” is another’s “stingy.”
In the past marketers used ethnic symbolism as shorthand to connote certain
product attributes. The images employed were sometimes crude and unflattering.
Recently, negative cultural stereotyping of an Aboriginal person was the basis of a
complaint against a toy produced by Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs. The manufacturer
sent an apology to John Joe Sark of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council for PEI and
promised that the toy would be discontinued. 67
How Religion Influences Consumption
An Angus Reid poll showed that religion plays an important part in the life of
nearly 60 percent of Canadians, three-quarters of whom reported themselves as